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U. S. GRANT. 



J^IDXDI^ESS 



SHELBY MftULLOM 



—AT THE- 



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MEMORIAL SERVICES, 



SPRINGFIELD, ILL., AUG. 8th, 1885. 



no,'' 



Fellow Citizens: 

Sorrow and sadness fill the land. The emblems 
of mourning everywhere appear. A devoted 
people are paying their last tribute of affection 
to one whom they had learned to admire ^'id 
love. Never, perhaps, in the history of the world 
have the people of any great nation so universally 
united as with one mind and heart and voice in 
manifesting their appreciation of the life and 
services of a great man as in this solemn hour. 
No SQch spectacle as that of to-day has been 
witnessed in the United States since our own 
Lincohi was brought to his resting place in the 
midst of scenes once so familiar to him. 

The National Government is conducting the 
funeral of Gen. Grant, in the commercial 
metropolis of the country, placing his mortal 
remains in the silent tomb with a pageantry 



seldom equalled in any nation or in any age. 
Nor is that all. In the cities, towns and hamlets 
in every part of the land the people are assem- 
bled together to do honor in their own way to 
the great hero, expressing their high appreciation 
of his character and manifesting their sorrow at 
his death. 

Such a demonstration signifies, fellow citizens, 
a popular recognition of the value to our country 
and to humanity of the life that is gone. The 
world is better for Gen, Grant having lived in it. 
Men live and die and are forgotten because they 
have done no act which entitles them to a place 
in the memories and affection of the people. 
Men live and die having done some act whifh 
brings upon their names and memories dishonor 
and disgrace. Not so the man whose loss we 
mourn to-day. His life has been one of truth, of 
honor, of simplicity, of true manhood, of great 
deeds, of devotion to his country, one always 
characterized by a love of liberty and justice. 

Gen, Grant is no more. His manly form has 
passed from our sight. We shall see him no 
more as many here saw him in this city a quarter 
of a century ago. No more, as many of you 
soldier citizens saw him at Belmont and Donelson 



3 

and Sliiloh and Vicksburg and Lookout Moun- 
tain, great battles tlirongh wliicli lie led you to 
a glorious victory. No more, as in the battle of 
the Wilderness. No more, as at the surrender of 
Lee and his army. No more, as the Chief 
Magistrate of a save(\ nation, twice called to that 
high office by a grateful people. No more, as 
when, retiring from that exalted office weary of 
service, he went abroad and received the homage 
of the crowned heads of the Old World and, 
which is far better, the plaudits of the millions 
of people there struggling for liberty and bread. No, 
fellow citizens, we shall see him no more, but he will 
still live by his example; he will still live by his 
great works, his sublime devotion to duty, his 
willing service and sacrifice for his country. 

Gen. Grant^s history is too well known to all 
the people of every part of this land to justify 
men in dwelling upon it in detail to-day. Never 
was there a man in the world's history who won 
a high place on the ladder of fame who relied 
less upon anything but the simple performance 
of duty in all his walks of life than did Gen. 
Grant. He was utterly devoid of all disposition 
to parade his virtues or his work. From boyhood 
to the end of his life he was the same plain, 



simple-minded, simple mannered, truthful, unos- 
tentatious person, whether in the shop, in the 
command of a regiment, or an army, as Chief 
Magistrate of a great nation, or while receiving 
the plaudits of the world during his travels- 
For these rare and wonderful characteristics the 
world admired him and mourns his loss to it 
to-day. 

I do not know that it is expected of me to- 
day to refer to Gen. Grant's military achievements 
and I shall not do so at length, but I will say 
what I believe, that no military man Jias ever 
lived who was his superior in war. He did not 
appear to be a brilliant man, and yet the brilliancy 
of his achievements in the field placed him fore- 
most among the soldiers in all history. The late 
civil war gave ample opportunity to men on both 
sides to prove their military genius and show 
their capacity to command armies and win 
battles. During the progress of the struggle 
many men showed themselves worthy to be ranked 
as among the ablest military chieftains of any 
age, but by common consent of mankind the 
name of Grant was far above them all. 

Of the long line of illustrious men who have 
left their impress upon our country's history. 



there hive bean three who will «tand above all 
the rest and side by side with each other— 
Washington, of revolutionary fame, who is called 
the father- of his country; Lincoln, who guided 
the ship of State through the late storm of civil 
war; and Grant, the great general, who saved the 
nation from overthrow in the sanguinary 
struggle for national life. What a glorious trio 
of patriots, each and all of them worthy examples 
of purity, truth, courage, devotion to duty, and 
guided by their convictions in their admhiistra- 
tion of our nation's affairs. While the American 
people cherish the names and imitate the virtues 
of these great patriots and benefactors of their 
race the nation which the one founded and the 
others saved will live and prosper. Bacon said 
that "death openeth the good fame and extin- 
guisheth envy." So of these three— Washington, 
Lincoln ani Grant, while they lived lives of 
truth and were each raised up in the providence 
of God for a great work, which they performed 
as though specially guided by divine wisdom, 
yet they did not escape the shafts of envy and 
malice, and their great lives were often ulouded 
with sadness because the world could not read 
the secrets of their hearts as they struggled for 



6 

the right. But death in each case openeth the 
good fame and extingiiishetli envy. Washington 
is called the father of his country, first in war, 
first in peace, first in the hearts of his country- 
men. Lincoln, by universal consent of mankind, 
is recognized as the emancipator of a race, and 
the friend of oppressed humanity everywhere. 
Grant, with firm step, steady hand, and heart 
full of devotion to duty, with faith in God and 
man, moved on and on in the work assigned to 
him in the field, and still on as a statesman in 
the councils of the nation, amid the fierce shafts 
of opposition until his work was finished. And 
now that he has passed beyond the reach of 
envy and hate, the world assigns him his place 
as an honest man, the greatest general of the 
century, and a patriot without a blot upon his 
record. 

As Illinoisans we have good right to be 
proud of the fact that of the three characters who 
stand out most conspicuously in the history of 
our (country two were citizens of Illinois when 
they entered upon their grand careers. Lincoln, 
the martyr President, whose sacred ashes sleep 
beneath yonder monument, and Grant, the suc- 
cessful military chieftain, were your and my 



fellow citizens. It is matter of pride to us as 
citizens of Springfield and Sangamon county that 
while one of them grew up among uy to those 
magnificent proportions of statesmanship which 
drew towards him the eyes of the nation and 
made him the foremost man in this republic, the 
other received here the fiirst recognition of that 
genius which astonished the world and won a 
glorious triumph for the cause of freedom and 
union. The one departed from among us at the 
call of the nation to undergo four years of 
crucial anxiety and suffering, which ended with 
his assassination, and was returned to us just as 
the sunbeams of a restored union began to 
struggle through the smoke of battle; the other 
went from us as the modest and unassuming 
soldier to fight the battles of his country and 
finally, as commander of the armies of the 
republic in the field, to recei\e the sword of the 
leader of the rebel armies at Appomattox. 

After enjoying unsought the highest honors 
which his country could bestow upon him, and 
receiving the plaudits of the principal nations of 
the world, the little cottage in New York became 
to him a "Mount of Transfiguration," and he has 
joined his great chief. Lincoln was struck down 



in the midst of liis life work, just as the dawn 
of assured victory had be^im to iUuminate the 
land. Grant lays down his life when -his work 
is ended. Our grief to-day is all the more pro- 
found because our hearts are still sore from the 
loss which we sustained when Lincoln fell. 

Lincoln and Grant, worthy compeers, unlike 
and yet so like. The one sagacious, with a heart 
overflowing with sympathy and charity for 
oppressed humanity; the other confiding, trusting, 
but with a fixed and determined purpose that 
allowed nothing to turn him to the right or to 
the left. Both plain, simple, without show, with- 
out ostentation, controlled by convictions of duty 
at every step, and both relying upon the heart 
and judgment of the body of the people as the 
source of their power. The one with a soul full 
of sentiment; the other controlled by facts, and 
in all his utterances with pen or voice plain, 
simple, strong and unequivocal. In their simpli- 
city of character as well as their humble origin 
these men were remarkable. Of each it may be 
said as it can be said of few— 

"His lilc was gentle; and the elements 

So mixed in him. that Nature might stand up, 

And say to all the world, this was a man!" 



9 

Called upon to point out the mof^t conspicuous 
qualities in Gen. Grant's character, I believe that 
the most discriminating observers would name 
his remarkable and unobtrusive modesty, his sim- 
plicity, hi^ indomitable persistency, and a certain 
equipoise which made him at all times master of 
himself and of the situation. These qualities 
were consistent with each other, and formed the 
very basis of his character, and out of them 
grew that unswerving integrity, constancy to his 
friends, and devotion to the right which charac- 
terized his public career from the beginning to 
the end. The farthest removed from self-suffi- 
ciency that was possible, he was yet one of the 
most self-reliant and self-contained of men. In 
this he resembled the pyramid which, resting on 
the solid earth, stood only the firmer, the stronger 
the force brought to bear against it. This was 
illustrated in the remarkable series of campaigns 
which he conducted. His presence of mind, his 
equipoise, never deserted him. In this he resem- 
bled the solidity of the pyramid, to which he has 
already been compared. Neither the leaden as- 
saults of his open enemies nor the scandals with 
which his secret foes sought to involve his name, 
could swerve him from a purpose once formed. 



10 

This determination is well illustrated by some of 
his most famous utterances: " I have no terms 
but unconditional surrender." " I propose to 
move immediately uppn your works." "I shall 
fight it out on this line if takes all summer." 

Grant could be relied on to do just what he 
said. It is related that on the occasion of the 
treason of Arnold, Washington turned to a friend 
and exclaimed: ''Whom can we trust now?" The 
time never was when a duty devolved upon 
Grant that he could not be trusted. He could 
be trusted as a citizen, he could be trusted as a 
soldier, he. could be trusted as a statesman. While 
it is to the military career of Gen. Grant that 
the world mainly directs its attention as the 
basis of his renown, yet he was no less a states- 
man. It is true that he was not so constituted 
as to be secure against imposition by corrapt and 
artful politicians, and was therefore unfortunate 
in some matters while President of the United 
States, but the great questions with which he 
was called upon to contend were mastered by 
him with wisdom and consummate statesmanship. 
He was called to the Presidency at a time of great 
political excitement, and much bitterness between 
the sections consequent upon the policy of recon- 



11 

structioii adopted by the party in power. Disoi- 
der and confusion reigned throughout the South, 
and in no small degree throughout the country. 
He believed in a rigid enforcement of the hiws 
and protection to all, whether white or black. 
His administration of affairs w^as faithful and 
true, with one purpose constantly before him— the 
protection of the lives and liberties of the people, 
and the re-establishment of the Union upon an 
enduring basis. 

Two great acts outside the question of the re- 
storation of the Union were the work of his ad- 
ministration. These alone will stand out as monu- 
ments of wisdom worthy of mention now, and 
which will live in history. I refer to the veto of 
the inflation bill, and the creation of the Treaty 
of Washington, whereby the differences between 
England and America were settled by arbitration. 
The one saved the credit and honor of the nation 
in its financial relations to the world ; the other 
set an example of settling disputes between 
nations by peaceable means, instead of resorting 
to the sword. The one brought prosperity to the 

people at home and saved our credit abroad. The 
other was an example of statesmanship in the 
interest of a higher and Christian civilization. 



12 

Gen. Grant was a man of peace. He did not 
like war. In response to the address of the Lord 
Chamberlain of London, during his ^famous trip 
around the world, he uttered these words: "Al- 
though a soldier by education and profession, I 
have never felt any sort of fondness for war. I 
have never advocated it except as a means of 
peace." Again he said to the working classes of 
Northumberland and Durham: "I was always a 
man of peace. I have always advocated peace, 
though educated a soldier." Again he said: "I 
would gladly see the millions of men who are 
now supported by the industry of the Natious 
return to industrial pursuits, and thus become 
self sustaining, and take off the tax upon labor 
which is now levied for their support." He was 
not only a lover of peace as distinguished from 
war, but he was also a lover of peace and har" 
mony politically among the people in the differ- 
ent sections of the country. Said he: "There is 
nothing I have longed for so much as a period 
of repose in our politics that would make it a 
matter of indifference to patriotic men which 
party is in power. I long for that." He was a 
a man of peace when he had gone through our 
great civil war, and saved the nation, and had 



been chosen as tlie candidate for President by the 
Republican party. Amid the shouts of victory 
going up all over the land, in that quiet and un- 
pretentious manner which characterized him every 
where and always through life, he said to his 
countrymen: 'Let us have peace." 

The fact is Gen. Grant, with all his iron will, 
was one of the most humane and tender-hearted 
of men. He did not love war for its own sake, 
or the fame it brought him. This was proved in 
the terms he extended to Lee, and the delight 
with which he saw peace returning to the coun- 
try after the surrender at Appomattox. In this 
he differed from Alexander and Napoleon and 
all the great warriors of antiquity and modern 
times, Benea,th the cold exterior of the unim- 
pressible military leader, there lurked a heart as 
warm and tender as that of woman. This was 
evinced in his love of home and his affection for 
his family. It was illustrated in the pleasure 
with which he met and received the caresses of 
children. I have recently read of an incident 
which so forcibly illustrates the character of this 
man whom the world is now mourning that I 
cannot resist the impulse to relate it. It is told 
by one who bore arms against his country, and 



14 

who met Geu. Grant for the first time shortly af- 
ter the sm-reiider at Appomattox, and near that 
place. Gen. Grant, who was then unknown to 
his entertainer, and had only attracted attention 
by his qniet, silent manner, asked his host where 
the pump was, as he wished to get a drink of 
water. The latter offered to go and get it, but 
Grant objected, saying that he was the youuger, 
and would help himself. The story as told by 
the entertainer is as follows: 

'■ When about the middle of the hall, my little 
grand -daughter came running towards me, but 
the silent man, spreading out both arms, caught 
her up and fairly smotliered her with kisses, say- 
ing: 'This reminds me of my little girl at home, 
and makes me home-sick.' To the a^iestion: 
) 'Where is your honied he replied: 'Galena, Illi- 
nois, but I have my family at City Point, and 
am anxious to get back to them.' I said: 'Will 
you permit me to ask your name, sir?' 'Cer- 
tainly, my name is Giant.' ' Grant,' exclaimed I. 
' Gen. Grant ? ' and 1 stood there awe-stricken and 
paralyzed with astonishment, while my heart 
went out after this man. I thought to myself, 
here is a man whose name is now in the mouth 
of man, woman and child throughout the civil- 



15 

ized worlcL and yet with all lie exhibits no emo- 
tion, and seems unconcerned and unmoved until 
the little child reminds him of his loved ones at 
home, and I fairly broke down, as Gen. Grant 
had been pictured to us as a bloody butcher, and 
I had looked for a man looking as savage as a 
Comanche Indian." 

Who that reads or hears this incident can fail 
to be touched by it, as that Virginia Confederate 
was, or fail to gain a new conception of the lofty 
grandeur (4 character of that silent man, who 
goes to his tomb to-day on the banks of the 
Hudson, accompanied by the tears of a sorrowing 
nation. 

Such, fellow-citizens, was tliH character of the 
man whom the nation mourns to-day. He was a 
great citizen, a great soldier, and a great states- 
man. In mature years he has passed away, bid- 
ding farewell to a devoted people. How beauti- 
ful, my friends, has been the close of his life- 
with the hand of death upon him, permitted by 
Divine Providence to close up his affairs, realiz- 
ing that his days were few, ■ given the oppor- 
tunity to read the expressions by all classes of 
his countrymen of their affection and tender 
solicitude, and their prayers that he might be 



16 

spared to the nation yet a little longer, but say- 
ing to his friends tliat lie was ready to go, that 
the battle of life was over, and doubtless hear- 
ing the voice of the great King in Heaven: "Well 
done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou 
into the joys of thy Lord." 

" To tread the walks of death he stood prepared, 
Atid what he g-reatly thought he nobly dared." 

' The whole nation has kept vigil for months at 
his bed-side, and now Christendom gathers with us 
around his bier. On both sides of the Atlantic 
we have witnessed the spectacle of men of all 
conditions uniting to do honor to the memory of 
our departed hero and statesman. As his coun- 
trymen gather around his bier at Mount McGre- 
gor, so beneath the dome of Westminster Abbey, 
and in the presence of the dust of England's 
most illustrious dead, there gathers a distinguished 
throng to pay tribute to our dead, and mingle 
their tears with ours. Two continents mourn him 
whom we consign to the tomb today— aye, Cliristen- 
dom pauses to shed a tear at the grave of Grant. 
His place in history is fixed. His work is fin- 
ished. At the portals of his tomb we bid fare- 
well to the soldier statesman, and civilization the 
wTjrld over mourns the loss of a friend. Let us 



17 

dwell in memory upon his resplendent virtues in 
faith that this national affliction may "work out 
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory" 

" Men (lie, but sorrow never dies; 
The crowding' years divide in vain, 
And the wide world is knit with ties 
01 common brotherhood in pain." 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



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